Chicken Soup for the Goblin King
by Nefereu
Summary: Sarah is forced to return to the Goblin castle after Jareth gets what he so richly deserves and chaos ensues. Much Humor and a little romance. Warning: Jareth gets taken down a peg and loses some of his dignity in this one!
1. Chapter 1

Yes. I know what you are thinking. "Not another Labyrinth Tale!" What can I say? I think I need to join a support group. Anyone know the number to 'Labyrinth Anonymous"? My sense of humor has been interfering with my other writing, so I banged this out. It is definitively a satire and only a few chapters. Hope someone else besides me likes it.

_**Chicken Soup for the Goblin King**_

_Sarah looked out over the young, eager faces of the children standing in line and smiled. It looked as if her latest book , _Mr. Worm's Great Journey, was going to be another big hit and possible best seller. After returning from her harrowing adventure in the Labyrinth, Sarah had begun telling Toby stories based on the characters she met there and the ongoing anecdotes of the Goblin kingdom that they related to her on their many visits. One day, on a whim, she wrote one of them down and turned it in for a high school English assignment. Her teacher was so impressed that she sent Sarah's story to a nationally published children's magazine without telling Sarah. It was instantly a huge hit. Within a year, Sarah was offered a publishing contract and became a bestselling children's author overnight. The ongoing tales of the Goblin Kingdom had entranced and enthralled children for the past eight years. Hoggle, Didymus, Ludo and even Ambrosius had all become beloved children's icons through the tales Sarah wrote about their many adventures.

Sarah was at this local bookstore to promote her latest tale that was based on a visit she had from the Rainbow worm and his dear "missus". Unfortunately, the past eight years had failed to improve the Goblin King's disposition. In fact, at times, Sarah could swear he was even more disagreeable than ever. The Goblin King had taken great delight over the years in punishing Sarah's friends for having aided her on her journey through the Labyrinth. Sarah knew all too well how her friends had suffered because of Jareth. This time had been no different. Though she loved her friends and always enjoyed them visiting, Sarah vowed never to return to the Goblin Kingdom if she could help it.

Several months before, Jareth had learned that even the rainbow worm had aided Sarah. In revenge, the Goblin King had ordered the wall he and his family lived in torn down. Sarah had been furious. Hoggle had brought the worm and his wife to visit Sarah until the King's temper cooled off. Sarah hadn't minded at all and had immediately made them at home. Fortunately, Jareth had soon become irritated with someone else and quickly forgotten all about the little worm, allowing his family to return home.

"Hoggle, I swear," Sarah had observed. "Sometimes the Goblin King goes too far! He makes me so mad I want to smack him!"

"Sarah!" Hoggle had reproved Sarah. "We can't do him any harm! He may be a pain, but he's still our King."

"YOUR King, Hoggle!" Sarah spat out. "Not mine!"

Hoggle looked quite distressed by Sarah's vehemence. Instantly she relented, reassuring her old friend.

"It's okay, Hoggle." she sighed. "I'm just venting. I don't mean to do the great Goblin King any bodily harm, not matter how much I'd like to. But just once, I wish something would knock him off that high throne of his! Just once, I wish Jareth could learn what it feels like to be weak, helpless and at the mercy of others. I wish he had to rely on someone else for a change! Maybe he'd finally learn something!"

A commotion at the back of the store broke Sarah out of her reverie. She looked up and was quite taken aback. Standing in the doorway was …Ludo? Of all Sarah's characters, Ludo seemed to be the one the children loved best. Even though he was huge, his shy kindness and gentle nature made him their instant favorite. Not surprisingly, having him appear in person had caused quite a stir. Instantly, the children began to crowd around Sarah's huge friend, making him visibly nervous.

" Sarah!" he bellowed in obvious distress. Sarah quickly rushed over to intervene and spoke quickly to her old friend.

"Ludo, these are some of my other friends; the ones I told you about." Sarah offered. "They have been reading all about you and Didymus in the book I wrote; remember?"

One little girl held up her copy of Sarah's book The Great Adventures of Sir Didymus and Ludo and shyly spoke up.

"Can I be your friend too, Ludo?" the little girl asked timidly.

Almost immediately, Ludo's familiar huge smile returned as he nodded in understanding.

"New friends!" he bellowed happily, much to the children's delight.

The next thirty minutes were rather chaotic as Ludo met his many fans. Many parents commented on how nice it was to have a character appear in person. Even the store owner seemed appreciative.

"I am really grateful to you, Ms. Williams, for going to all this trouble. Having someone dress as your character was a stroke of genius. Thank you. That's a wonderful costume, by the way, sir." the owner said, addressing Sarah and Ludo.

" It was our pleasure, wasn't it, Ludo?" Sarah replied giving the owner a knowing wink.

"New friends." Ludo observed happily.

Quickly, Sarah managed to whisk Ludo out of the store and back to her apartment nearby without further incident.

"Okay, Ludo." Sarah said, closing her apartment door in relief. "What's all this about?"

"Letter." Ludo said. "Ludo give Sarah letter." he continued, holding up a strange document.

Mystified and curious, Sarah took the missive Ludo offered and began to read.

"_My dearest Lady," _it began. "_Forgive me for not delivering this note in person, but recent events have forced me to rely on my comrade-in-arms, Sir Ludo to deliver this urgent message. The Goblin Kingdom is facing a terrible cataclysm and has fallen into turmoil! I beg you to come post haste. Your presence may be the only thing standing between us and complete chaos .You are the only one who may be able to save us! Please come at once!"_

_Your Loyal Servant, Sir Didymus_

Alarmed, Sarah turned to Ludo." Ludo!" she cried. "Is this true?"

Mournfully, Ludo nodded, but offered no further insight. Stunned and taken aback, Sarah considered things for a moment, but knew she couldn't desert her friends in their time of need. Taking a steadying breath, she reluctantly said the words she had promised herself never to utter, no matter the circumstances.

"I wish I was in the Goblin Castle." Sarah pronounced slowly.

The scenery spun and for a moment, Sarah's head swam. Suddenly, she found herself in the throne room of the Goblin castle. Unfortunately, the place was a wreck and in utter chaos. Though always dim and depressing, the throne room was now even worse. Everything was a shambles! Chairs and tables were upended; food and trash were thrown everywhere and there were various farm animals running amok. Worse yet, the goblins themselves seemed to be running around in a total state of panic, generally destroying everything in site. The minute she appeared several of them rushed to her and began babbling loudly all at once. Vainly, Sarah tried to make herself heard until she had had enough. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved an item that had served her well over the years. As a popular children's author, Sarah had learned how to handle a group of unruly youngsters. These goblins were no different. Sarah gave a loud, piercing blow on her coach's whistle causing the room to instantly fall silent.

"Now, that's better. Sarah said with some satisfaction. "Where are Hoggle and Didymus?"

Hoggle was quickly summoned and seemed overjoyed to see Sarah.

" Oh, Thank goodness you're here!" said Hoggle with obvious relief.

"Hoggle, what is all this nonsense? What's so dire that you had to ask me to come back here to the castle? You know how I feel about this place." Sarah replied in exasperation.

"Well," Hoggle began reluctantly. "It's the Goblin King."

"What's that tyrant done now?" Sarah barked out testily.

"He ain't done nothing, Sarah." Hoggle uttered softly. "He's dying."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Dying?!!" cried Sarah in shock. "Are you sure?"

Hoggle hesitated a moment. "Well, I ain't exactly seen him, you understand." he said.

"But the goblins here says he took to his bed ill three days ago. That's when they sent for me and Didymus. He's out in the city trying to calm things down now. I was waitin' here for you and Ludo."

"But why send for me?" Sarah protested, refusing to be drawn into things just yet.

"Because if'n he dies, you become Queen." Hoggle answered.

"Me?!! You can't be serious!!" she cried.

"I'm afraid so, Sarah. You're the only Champion of the Labyrinth to ever defeat the King directly. If'n the King dies without an heir, the Champion becomes the ruler of the Goblin Kingdom." Hoggle continued.

" Hoggle," Sarah interjected. "I've known you too long. You didn't just send for me to because I'm the Champion. What's really going on?"

At that moment, one of the hysterical goblins ran over and latched onto Sarah's leg.

"Oh, please, Saree!" the poor, pathetic thing sobbed. "Please save da kingy! Hoggle say if anybody can save him, you can! He been our Kingy forever! We like you, but we want our kingy to live! Save him, please!"

Sarah folded her arms in disgust and looked balefully at Hoggle who had the grace to look guilty.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I knows how you feel about him, but the goblins were panicking. I kinda told them you could help." he admitted.

Sighing angrily, she relented. "Well, I'm already here, so it's a little late to back out now. You'd better take me to the King."

A rousing shout of joy went up from the goblins at Sarah's announcement. She only wished she felt as confidant.

Hoggle and the goblins quickly showed Sarah to an intricately carved massive set of double doors deep in the castle. Instantly, Sarah knew this must be Jareth's chambers.

"Should you announce me or something?" She asked nervously.

"Well, see, Sarah, that's the thing." Hoggle stammered. "No one's actually been in his chambers and seen the King in a bit."

"How long is a bit, Hoggle?" Sarah asked with a malevolent glare.

"Three days." came Hoggle's weak reply.

"Three days?!!" Sarah shouted. 'You mean he's been in there sick and not one of you actually thought to check on him?!!"

"We no want to disturb him." one of the goblins meekly offered." You go ahead, Sarah. We wait for you here."

Sarah growled in anger at the goblins' cowardice and angrily flung open the huge doors to confront the Goblin king. The room was quite dark, shadowed in gloom. In the center of the room sat a massive bed swathed in giant drapes of midnight black. Sarah stomped over to it and was totally taken aback for the sight that greeted her.

If Sarah hadn't known the figure was Jareth, she might not had recognized him right away. He was so pale, he almost matched the color of his wrinkled, torn shirt except for his red nose and cheeks.

His usually meticulously groomed hair hung limp and unwashed over his eyes. The only other color in his face came from the dark smudges of fatigue that stood out prominently above his ghostly thin cheeks. All in all, he looked quite terrible.

Sarah moved closer and touched his limp hand, finding it ice cold. Gingerly, she touched his forehead; in sharp contrast, it was quite hot. Jareth had a high fever. In spite of her resentment, she couldn't help feeling a wave of sympathy for the obviously ill Goblin King.

At Sarah's gentle touch, the Goblin King opened his blood-shot eyes and glared maliciously at Sarah. When he spoke his voice was weak and quite raw.

"You!" he hacked. Unfortunately, the Goblin King was quite stuffed up so he sounded remarkably like Elmer Fudd. The word came out much more like "Yewb". Fortunately, Sarah could still understand him.

"I know why you're here. You want my throne! Well, you'll just have to wait! The Goblin King wheezed. "I'm not dead yet!"

Sarah rolled her eyes and folded her arms in exasperation. "I'm not here for your throne." she announced, but the King didn't seem to hear her.

"I knew I should have done in those wretched friends of yours ages ago." he continued on. "You just wait; I'll get them yet. I…"

"SHUT UP!!" Sarah shouted as her temper snapped. Sarah wasn't sure who was more surprised, she or Jareth, when he actually did.

"Listen up, you tinplated overgrown bully, because I will not repeat myself." she bellowed. "I am not here to take your blasted throne or anything else for that matter! I don't even want to be in this horrible place. The only reason I came back here is because, those wretched friends of mine, as you call them, begged me to come here to save your miserable hide. For some bizarre reason, though Heaven only knows why, they actually think you're worth saving. Personally, I don't see it myself, especially considering the way you treat your subjects. But they asked me, so here I am. Because that's what friends do; they help each other. Now you are going to do what I tell you so you can get better and I can go home! I don't want to spend one more minute than I have to in this awful place! I'll be back soon so be ready." With that she marched out the doors, slamming them firmly for emphasis.

The Goblin king watched Sarah go, brimming with rage. Desperately, he tried to summon a globe to fling after her. At that moment, however, he was afflicted with another violent coughing fit that had him falling back on the pillows, weak and drained. As he drifted back into troubled sleep, he couldn't help thinking about how much Sarah Williams had changed from the irritating teen she had once been.

Sarah leaned on the now closed doors and breathed a sigh. She had been so angry at the King that she had completely lost control of her temper. For Sarah it was a first. In spite of her anger, she also felt a bit of relief. While he might look terrible, she seriously doubted the Goblin King had anything more serious than a bad cold. She couldn't hold back a sliver of satisfaction at the thought that Jareth was getting exactly what he deserved, just as she had wished. Frankly, she didn't feel one bit guilty about her wish. Still, the goblins had asked for her help and she was going to give it. The sooner Jareth got better, the sooner Sarah could get back to her real life.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Almost without thought, Sarah whipped out her cell phone. Strangely, it didn't faze her when she saw she had great reception. Nothing about the Goblin Kingdom had ever been normal or even logical. Quickly, she called her assistant to free up her schedule for a few days. Then she turned her mind about what to do for the Goblin King. If he'd been human, Sarah would have just dosed him with a good cold medicine and gone home. Unfortunately, she was too afraid to try that with Jareth. Who knew what effect human medicine could have? It might even actually kill him for real! Luckily, Sarah had an idea. Her stepmother, Karen, had recently become a bit of a health nut, advocating anything and everything natural. Sarah put in a call to her, claiming to need advice for a friend who disliked doctors. Karen quickly gave Sarah instructions that she felt she could follow and could help make the king better. But, she was going to need help.

Sarah headed back to the throne room after sending Hoggle back to her apartment for supplies and tried to stir up some support. Predictably, the goblins seemed reluctant.

"Look," Sarah protested. "Do you want me to save the King or not?"

"We do!" one of them replied. "We just afraid of the Kingy. He never let any of us help take care of him ever! He always do everything by magic! Nobody done that stuff since Brunella."

Curious, Sarah had to ask. "Who's Brunella?"

"The Kngy's old nanny. She retired now. But she used to take car of Kingy for years!"

"Is she still around?" Sarah inquired.

"Oh, yes!" came the reply.

Sarah stared at the goblin who looked blankly back at her.

In exasperation she yelled," Well? GO GET HER!!"

A goblin dashed off to fetch the mysterious Brunella as Sarah shook her head in disgust.

Though she liked them, the goblins weren't very bright and could be quite infuriating. Sarah was beginning to understand why Jareth felt the need to kick them occasionally.

Shortly, the goblin returned with a rather older looking female of indeterminate age who seemed none to happy to be summoned.

" Why you bothering me? Me old and retired. Who wants me?" she complained.

"I do." said Sarah emphatically.

The female peered hard at Sarah and soon looked angry.

"I know you! You that mean girl who was nasty to my Jarrykins! Me no like you! Go away!"

It took a moment for Sarah to realize that "Jarrykins" was in fact the great Goblin King, Jareth. Sarah fought down a snort of laughter at the childish nickname.

"My name is Sarah." she pronounced loudly. "I'm here to try to save your precious Goblin King and I need your help." That got Brunella's attention immediately.

"Save? What you mean save?" she said slowly.

"The Goblin King is very sick. He may even be dying." Sarah stated dramatically.

"Dying?" Brunella cried in distress. "Me knew me never should have retired and leave these lunkheads to look after my precious Jarrykins. They so stupid they make dirt look smart!"

Turning to Sarah, she ventured cautiously, "You really come to help my Jarrykins?"

"Absolutely!" Sarah agreed.

"Then count me in." Brunella affirmed strongly. "You gonna need somebody with some brains to help. These dingbats couldn't make mud even if they had a recipe for it!"

A short time later, the Goblin King was awakened by a disturbance and looked up to see Sarah enter his room followed by a line of goblins carrying various things.

"What is this?" he croaked irritably.

"This is the beginning of your treatment, your majesty." she asserted firmly. "First up, you get a bath! I assume this mausoleum has a bathroom."

" No!" Jareth protested. "No one is going to give ME a bath!"

"Don't you talk to me that way, Jarrykins!" came the loud reply." You getting bath right now, young man!"

The Goblin King looked past Sarah to see his old nanny standing there.

"Brunella?" he said somewhat bewildered.

"Yes! Me here now and you going to get better. Me knew me shouldn't have retired!" Brunella turned to the large goblin next to her and kicked his large behind." Get moving, Lunkhead! Take Kingy to bathroom, Now!"

The big Goblin reluctantly picked up the King and took him out, followed closely by Brunella. Sarah couldn't hide a smug smile as she heard Brunella telling her "Jarrykins" not to worry. Quickly, she, too, set to work.

Some time later, the Goblin King was carried back to his bed, much to his disgust. He had endured the indignity of being stripped and thoroughly scrubbed by his old nanny as if he were a young child again. Worse yet had been having her address him as "Jarrykins" throughout the humiliating ordeal. Still, Jareth had to reluctantly admit that it felt rather good to be clean again. Sarah, it seemed, had been at work as well. Jareth's bed had been stripped and laid with fresh sheets. The curtains had been opened, letting in much needed light and air, and a fire now blazed away in the huge stone fireplace. Momentarily, Sarah herself re-entered carrying a tray.

'Here." she announced. "I've brought you something to help with your cold." Sarah placed a large bowl on a table next to the bed, instructing Jareth to sit up and lean over it.

Jareth started to balk and then decided against it. The sooner he got better, the sooner he could settle the score with Sarah Williams. Sarah poured hot water into the bowl, put a cloth over Jareth's head, and told him to breathe deeply. After a bit, the Goblin King was quite surprised to discover that he was actually beginning to feel some better. Sarah then took the bowl away and came back with something else.

"Brunella sent you some soup." she informed Jareth.

"I'm not hungry." he grumbled, almost sounding normal. Brunella chose that moment to reappear and immediately stepped in.

"What?!! Me made that soup just for you, Jarrykins. You going to eat it if me have to feed you!" Brunella asserted.

'Well, I'll leave the Goblin King in your capable hands, Brunella." Sarah said, barely containing her laughter. "I need to see about getting the goblins back under control."

"You no worry, Missy Sarah." Brunella instructed. "Me got everything here under control." Hastily, Sarah left before she burst out laughing.

The Goblin King endured the further humiliation of Brunella standing over him as he finished all his food. To top things off, she insisted on tucking him in and actually kissed his forehead.

"Nighty, night, my little Jarrykins." she whispered. "Missy Sarah and me gonna take good care of you."

Irritated beyond measure and exhausted by the day's events, he soon fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hoggle hadn't been kidding when he said things were in chaos. Sarah had returned to the throne room to begin to sort out the castle. After much shouting and several more whistle blasts, she finally managed to calm the castle goblins and tried to start setting things back in order now that the goblins were sure the King wasn't actually dying. But it proved no easy task. To make matters worse, she found that most of the poor goblins hadn't had a decent meal in almost three days.

Shortly after the King took ill, the castle chef decided to stop cooking altogether.

Sarah went down to the castle kitchen to try to convince him to reopen the kitchen. Unfortunately, the chef proved to be a rather difficult goblin and a most annoying one.

No amount of cajoling or even threats could get him to budge on reopening the kitchen. If the king was dying, he asserted, there was no need to cook anything. Worse yet, he refused to believe that the King was getting better.

Finally, for the second time that day, Sarah's temper snapped. Screaming in frustration, she seized one of the chef's own wooden ladles and clonked him firmly on the head with it. The effect was immediate and quite surprising. Almost instantly, the chef jumped up and began ordering his assistants to begin preparing a meal. Smiling, he became quite respectful and began saying "Yes, Missy Sarah" to whatever she requested. A bit befuddled, Sarah went back to the throne room, wisely taking the ladle with her.

Sarah was beginning to see that the goblins needed a firm hand. While she was reluctant to admit it and would have cut out her tongue before telling him so, it was obvious even to her that the Goblin King was essential to keeping the kingdom itself in working order. Though she might deplore the King's heavy handed methods, they obviously worked.

Back in the throne room, Sarah decided to make use of some discipline, though not nearly as severely as Jareth. Taking a drill sergeant like stance, Sarah quickly organized the goblins into cleaning up the throne room and most of the other common areas of the castle. Fortunately, she didn't have to clonk any more goblins, though she did have to give some an occasional nudge. Between her oversized ladle and a few blows on her coach's whistle, Sarah soon had the goblins working quickly and efficiently. Sarah was pleasantly surprised to find that the goblins were both fast and hard working once they got motivated.

Eventually, the castle goblins had been fed, the cleaning finished, and most of the previous chaos sorted out. But by the time Hoggle returned, poor Sarah was exhausted. It had taken considerable energy and a great deal of work just to keep the goblins in line for a few hours. Unfortunately, Sarah couldn't rely on magic and had to keep order by herself so she was completely worn out.

Wearily, she returned to the Royal chambers one last time before retiring for the night.

"How is he?" she asked Brunella quietly.

"He sleeping." Brunella replied. "Me no want to wake him."

"Well, try using this. You can rub it on his chest." Sarah instructed, giving Brunella a small blue jar. "It smells rather bad, but it will help his cold. I'm going to bed; you should too."

"Missy Sarah," Brunella interjected. "Thank you for coming to help Jarrykins. Me not a dummy like those other goblins. Me know you didn't have to come back here again."

Sarah looked at the sleeping form of the Goblin King a few feet and paused a moment before answering Brunella.

"Yes, I did have to come back, Brunella, if only for myself." she replied quietly.

Taking a long, last look, Sarah slowly departed. Brunella put the small jar down and tucked the King in again. Quietly, she too, slipped from the room.

The moment the door closed, the Goblin King opened his eyes. Jareth had, in fact, been awake for some time and felt dramatically improved. Alone at last, he sat up and let out a sigh of relief. His old nanny might have a good heart, but she was positively annoying.

It mystified and irked Jareth beyond measure that Sarah Williams had managed to find the one person in the Goblin kingdom Jareth couldn't intimidate and order around. Jareth actually cared deeply for Brunella, especially after she had seen him through the untimely death of both his parents. Unfortunately, she had continued to treat him like a child, even after he grew up and became King. Frankly, her insistence at continually addressing him as "Jarrykins" had irritated the Goblin King and begun to undermine his authority with the castle goblins. Eventually, he had to force Brunella to retire for his sake of his sanity.

As he had been lying there, feigning sleep, he had watched through half closed lids as Sarah Williams, now grown up, had returned to his chambers. In spite of his annoyance with her, the Goblin King couldn't help noticing how much she had changed since the last time he had seen her in person. Though he would never admit it to anyone, Jareth had been quite infatuated with young Sarah eight years before. Her spirit and bravery had intrigued the bored and restless Goblin King since it had been centuries since any other real female had come to the Labyrinth. Wisely, Sarah had turned him down, though it galled the Goblin King to no end. In revenge, he had tormented anyone he found who had helped her or that she cared about. Now here she was, back in his kingdom, all grown up and helping him no less.

She could have simply left him at the mercy of his illness. But instead, she had come back to a place she despised and helped him; a person who had done nothing but torment her friends ever since she rejected him. Frankly, Sarah confounded Jareth.

Turning to the table, he opened the small jar Sarah had brought and looked at it somewhat dubiously. Carefully, he removed one of his gloves and put one finger into the viscous goo experimentally. It looked like bog scum and smelled only slightly better. Jareth was tempted to fling it away, but soon thought the better of it. So far, everything Sarah had done had only made him feel better. Eyeing the stuff with some trepidation, he reluctantly rubbed some on himself. To his dismay, he found that some of the gunk still clung to his hand stubbornly. As he looked at it, wondering how to get it off, Jareth soon felt a familiar tingle. Instantly, his hand was clean and his glove back in place. Smugly, he smiled. Though only a small thing, it meant Jareth's magic was returning. Feeling much better and with his confidence returning, the Goblin King settled back into his oversized bed and fell into a satisfied sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sarah had dragged herself to her room after her rather long day, exhausted in more way than one. As she wearily prepared for bed, her mind kept running over the events of the day, trying to make sense of it all. Up until that moment, she hadn't really had time to ponder all the things that had happened that day or their implications. Sarah had been deeply affected by what happened to her in the Labyrinth. Though Sarah had grown up and become a "responsible" adult, her time in the Labyrinth and her continued friendship with its residents had kept alive in her a special kind of wondrous belief in magic that most people lost by her age. It was a quality that transcended explanation and gave Sarah's books that special element that opened the children's minds to the wonderful possibilities of the universe.

Still, Sarah had never really intended to ever return to the Goblin kingdom again. Coming back here had been hard enough; seeing Jareth again had been even harder. Though she didn't want to, Sarah had to admit to herself that she still had feelings for the Goblin King. Though she had turned him down, Sarah had always secretly wished she could have stayed. She had tried to put her feelings down to a typical teenaged girl's crush on a "bad boy". But it had been much more than that. Even his horrendous treatment of her friends hadn't totally destroyed her fascination with him. Seeing him again had reawakened some of those feelings and made Sarah feel more uneasy than ever. The sooner she got out of here the better.

Sarah picked up the sketch pad Hoggle had retrieved from her apartment and looked at it. While most people knew about Sarah's writing, only a very select few knew that she also illustrated all her own books as well. Drawing had always been a very private thing to Sarah; something she had not even shared with her family. It had always been her way of dealing with her emotions and the world around her. Almost without thought, she picked up a pencil and began to draw some of the events of the day. Soon, the chaotic throne room, the castle chef, and even Brunella began to take shape. Sarah didn't draw the Goblin King any more. No matter how hard she tried, Sarah simply couldn't keep her emotions from showing through. Sighing heavily, Sarah soon settled down and tried to sleep. Though it took awhile, she finally drifted off.

Jareth awoke the next morning feeling almost himself again. He was breathing much better, his voice had returned, and his cough had cleared up completely. Though he still had to endure the indignity of Brunella helping him, Jareth was able to tend to his own needs for the most part. He still didn't have his magic, so he was forced to do things the "normal" way. Still, he found it felt good to be up and around again. Brunella had found him a pair of black silk pajamas, but Jareth had insisted on dressing himself. He had even managed to brush his own hair into a respectable ponytail, though it was a far cry from his usual spiked look. Finally, Brunella had left her "Jarrykins" to go check on things in the rest of the castle.

Sarah herself had been up for some time. The goblins, for the most part, were now listening to her and doing as she asked. Sarah was relieved to hear from Didymus and Hoggle that things in the Goblin city itself seemed to be returning to normal as well. Sarah had gone down to the kitchen and fixed Jareth a light breakfast since the chef was too busy feeding the other goblins.

Reluctantly, she went back to the royal chambers, dreading another encounter with the Goblin king. Hesitating, Sarah knocked and then entered, carrying the tray. Looking up, she paused, noting how much better the Goblin King appeared. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat as she noticed how handsome he was. Taking a steadying breath, she planted on a fake smile and greeted him cheerfully.

"Good morning, your majesty. You look better this morning." she said with false brightness.

"Hmmph!" Jareth grunted in reply.

Sarah put down the tray as Jareth gave her a hard glare.

"I brought you some breakfast. I hope you like it." Sarah offered.

"Why are you here?!!" Jareth ground out in a harsh tone.

Sarah sighed. It was going to be another long day.

"I told you. I came to help my friends." She replied firmly.

"I know what you claim." Jareth sneered." The question is why did you really come?"

Irritated and tired of the whole situation, Sarah decided enough was enough.

Dropping all pretext and deference, she addressed the Goblin King in a serious tone.

"Look, Jareth." she said flatly. "I know you don't believe me. To be honest, I really don't care. Whether you want to believe it or not, I only did come here to help my friends. They begged me to save you. In spite of all you have done to them, they care about you. So do the goblins. When they thought you were dying, they fell apart. The whole kingdom did. It's really sad. You mean so much to so many people around you, yet you treat them as if they mean nothing to you. I've never met anyone who was surrounded by so many people, yet was so utterly alone. I feel sorry for you. If you only took the time to talk to even one of them, maybe you would understand. "

Shaking her head, Sarah turned and walked out.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sarah left the royal chambers, angry and disgusted. How Jareth was so powerful, yet remained so totally clueless simply escaped her. To make matters worse, she knew what she told Jareth had been a lie. For some bizarre reason, she did care what he thought. In spite of everything that had happened, she still had feelings for him. She simply didn't know how to make him believe that she was telling the truth. She was so lost in thought she almost mowed down Brunella in the hallway.

Brunella took one look at Sarah and guessed something had happened between her and the Goblin King. Shaking her head, she addressed Sarah.

"What he done this time?" Brunella sighed heavily.

"I tell you what he's done!" Sarah snapped, venting her anger. "He still thinks I'm here to steal his kingdom or take over or something! He simply refuses to believe that I came here without an ulterior motive! He doesn't even want to believe that my friends asked me to come here to help him! Doesn't he understand how much the he means to the Goblins and to this kingdom? How can he be such a … a….?"

Sarah paused, struggling to find a term strong enough to describe her feelings.

"Lunkhead?" Brunella offered.

In spite of her previous anger, Sarah laughed, breaking her out of her funk.

"Yes, I guess he is being a lunkhead." Sarah replied.

"Sorry, Missy Sarah. Me guess this my fault." Brunella replied mournfully.

"Your fault? That's not possible, Brunella." Sarah asserted.

"It must be! Me raised him! If not me, who else?" Brunella replied.

Sarah stared at Brunella with rapt attention as the little goblin's meaning sunk in.

"What do you mean you raised him, Brunella? What about his parents?" Sarah inquired.

Brunella then went on to relate to Sarah the distinctly tragic tale of how Jareth's parents had both died in an accident many years earlier. Though magical, their injuries had been too great for anyone to heal and they had perished. Jareth had been left an orphan at the age of ten. The next few years had been chaotic as various goblin nobles had fought for control of the kingdom, vying to become Regent for the young prince. Finally, things had reached a boiling point. The feuding became so vigorous that the Goblin Kingdom itself had been on the verge of civil war.

Incredibly, in the midst of the chaos, young Jareth had astounded everyone by proclaiming himself King and taking over the reins of government, though he was only fourteen. He had easily quelled the dissention, reunited his kingdom and ruled utterly unopposed ever since. Stunned almost beyond words, Sarah addressed Brunella after the goblin had finished her story.

"Is that why he's such a control freak?!!" Sarah wondered aloud. Suddenly at least some things about Jareth made much more sense.

"Maybe that was what all that fear and obey nonsense was about." she pondered aloud.

"What you say, Missy Sarah?" Brunella asked, her eyes alight with interest.

Reluctantly, Sarah told Brunella the complete story about her last trip to the Goblin kingdom, including her final encounter with the Goblin King. Though she had told her friends some of the details, she had left out the part about Jareth's last offer. For some reason, she found she trusted Brunella enough to tell her everything.

To Sara's surprise, Brunella got angry after hearing her tale.

"Fear and obey?!! What was that lunkhead thinking?! And sending the Cleaners after you! Boy, it a good thing me back. It look like me got here just in time!" Brunella ground out. Seeing Sarah's puzzled expression, she quickly adopted a deliberately bland expression.

"Nevermind, Missy Sarah. You were saying?" Brunella offered.

"That's all of it, Brunella. That's all that happened." Sarah sighed.

"Missy Sarah…" Brunella began.

"Please, call me Sarah." Sarah interrupted.

"Sarah, is that why you hate the Goblin kingdom?" Brunella asked.

"Not exactly." Sarah stalled. "It wasn't the only reason." Sighing, Sarah decided she might as well tell Brunella everything.

"I kind of had a crush on Jareth for a while." she confessed, wincing. " I was only fifteen last time and I guess I was pretty foolish But, I'm over it, of course. I just didn't like they way Jareth treated my friends."

"Hmmm." commented Brunella.

Embarrassed at revealing so much about her feelings, Sarah decided to make a hasty retreat.

"Well, I'd better got check on the other goblins." she stammered. "Heaven knows what mischief they've gotten into now." Quickly, she bolted for the throne room.

Brunella watched Sarah go, her mind awhirl with plans.

"So that what he been stewing over all this time; Sarah!" Brunella murmured to herself.

"Well, me better get to work or my Jarrykins gonna be the Last Goblin King." she said, shaking her head.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Brunella entered the royal chambers quite cheerful, much to the Goblin King's dismay.

Frowning, Jareth had just watched Sarah leave. It still vexed the Goblin King that Sarah Williams still seemed to get the better of him every time they met. Jareth hadn't intended to be quite so disagreeable, especially since he was feeling better. But, Sarah's overly cheerful attitude and exaggerated smile had gotten on Jareth's nerves. Before he realized what he was doing, he was deliberately provoking a confrontation between them.

To his surprise, she had stood up to him a second time. Having Brunella enter equally cheerful only grated on his nerves even more.

"Good morning, Jarrykins." she said, not letting on that she had just spoken to Sarah.

"You feeling better today?"

Jareth merely growled in reply.

"Me hope you going to eat your breakfast. You need your strength to get better." Brunella added. "Besides, it good for you, Jarrykins."

"Stop calling me that!" the Goblin King snarled. "I am not a child."

"Really?" Brunella snapped loudly as she folded her arms and glared at the King." Could have fooled me. You acting like one!"

"What are you talking about?" Jareth replied sullenly.

"You know exactly what me talking about; Missy Sarah! She gone to all this trouble and come all this way to help you and you treat her like dirt!" Brunella ground out.

"I didn't ask her to come back here!" Jareth shouted angrily.

"No, her friends did. But if you think that the only reason she came, you dumber than those lunkheads in the throne room!" Brunella replied.

Jareth froze for a moment, considering Brunella's words. But, he quickly dismissed them.

"Sarah Williams is nothing but trouble!" he asserted firmly.

Turning away, Brunella secretly smiled. The Goblin King did care; she was sure of it!

"Well, you no have to worry about her bothering you any more." she replied nonchalantly, hiding a sly smile.

"What do you mean?!!" Jareth demanded loudly.

"She just not going to trouble you anymore. She gone." Brunella said in a meek tone.

"Gone? Gone where?!!" Jareth demanded angrily. He had just been getting used to the idea of Sarah being back in his kingdom.

"AHA!" Brunella cried in triumph." Me right! You do care about Missy Sarah!"

"I asked you where Sarah has gone." Jareth said in a low tone full of menace.

"Nowhere!" Brunella replied smugly." Me just wanted to see if me was right."

Jareth exhaled slowly in anger and fought to control his temper.

"You're treading on thin ground with me, Brunella." he warned.

"It doesn't matter, anyway." Jareth continued in a bleak tone." Sarah doesn't care for me. She proved that the last time she was here when she turned me down."

"Oh, Please!" Brunella snorted as she rolled her eyes. "Anybody turn down that nonsense! Fear and obey?! Whoever heard of such a thing! Besides, Missy Sarah was only a child! Her only fifteen, for Heaven's sake! She no much older back then than when you become king! How she supposed to know what she want?"

That bit of information shocked Jareth and gave him pause. In truth, he hadn't known Sarah was quite so young. She certainly hadn't looked or acted fifteen, not that the Goblin King was any judge. He'd been so infatuated with Sarah that he hadn't noticed or cared about her age.

A vague sliver of hope began to form in Jareth's heart, but he ruthlessly suppressed it.

"My feelings for Sarah are none of your concern. Besides, just because she came back doesn't mean she has any feelings for me now, Brunella." Jareth stated.

"Oh, really?" Brunella answered." If Missy Sarah no care, then why she go to so much trouble? Just because of her friends? Me don't think so. Not only did Missy Sarah try to make you better, she been running around exhausting herself trying to get the whole kingdom back in shape. She got the goblins to clean up the castle, clonked the chef back into cooking and even made you breakfast! What else she have to do; stand on her head?"

"Sarah made me breakfast?" Jareth said in a distracted tone, staring intently at the untouched plate. Rather tentatively, Jareth picked up the visually appealing plate and began tasting it. It was delicious. Soon, he was digging in enthusiastically. Within minutes, he had devoured it all as Brunella smiled in satisfaction.

"See? She does care and she not fifteen anymore." she pointed out.

Sarah certainly wasn't fifteen anymore. In spite of his best efforts not to, Jareth had noticed several times how much Sarah had matured and how appealing she now was. If anything, he found her more entrancing than she had been last time. It was part of the reason for his ill humor that morning.

"That's all well and good, Brunella." Jareth sighed. "But what do you expect me to do about it? I certainly can't just go up and declare my intentions. Romancing her is out of the question; I tried it last time and it was a disaster."

Brunella snorted again, this time in derision.

"Oh yes. Poisoned peaches are so romantic." she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, you're so blasted smart!" Jareth raged. "What do you suggest?!!"

Brunella slapped her hand to her forehead and shook her head in disgust. This was going to be much harder than she thought.

"You could START by being nice to her." Brunella informed the Goblin King

"I'm the Goblin King!" Jareth complained loudly. "I don't do nice."

"Well, you better try." Brunella asserted firmly as she departed. "Otherwise, you going to be alone for a very long time." With those parting words, she firmly shut the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Satisfied that she had at least gotten the Goblin King thinking, Brunella turned her attention to Sarah and went to find her. She didn't have to go far.

Sarah had bolted from Brunella straight to the throne room. In actual fact, the goblins really didn't need anyone to oversee them at the moment. Now that most of them knew the King wasn't really dying, things had gotten pretty much back to normal in the castle. The goblins were behaving again and hadn't had time to get into much mischief. Still, Sarah had come, quickly grabbed a broom and begun sweeping even though the throne room was mostly clean; anything to avoid talking more with Brunella.

" Missy Sarah, there you are. "Brunella exclaimed. "Me wanted to talk to you some more."

"What about?" replied Sarah sweeping harder than ever.

"The King." Brunella replied. "You know, he not really that bad."

Sarah snorted in derision. "Brunella, no offense, but you're a little biased."

Brunella sighed. "That true, but honest, he really can be nice. Maybe he even like you."

Sarah rolled her eyes." Oh, yes, he was very cordial the last time I came." she replied sarcastically.

"Well, maybe once you get to know him…" Brunella offered.

"No thanks, Brunella." Sarah broke in. "I've had enough of the Goblin King. I'd better go check with the chef. See you later."

Hurriedly, Sarah dashed from the throne room.

Bruella shook her head. This was going to be MUCH, MUCH harder than she thought.

Outside the throne room, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be free of Brunella's interference. She was still regretful and a bit mortified at confessing her feelings for Jareth to Brunella. It was a good thing Brunella hadn't got around to asking Sarah about her love life. Then she would have really gotten curious.

Through all of high school and most of college, Sarah hadn't really dated much. In spite of how he had treated her, Sarah always seemed to compare all of her dates and judge them in comparison to Jareth. Against him, how could anyone measure up?

Finally, in her junior year of college, Sarah had fallen hard for an Austrian exchange student named Johann. Confident she was over the Goblin King, Sarah had thrown herself into an immediate romance with Johann, a music major. Everything was wonderful until one night when Johann and Sarah had been invited to a costume party. Johann decided to dress up as Mozart, his favorite composer, with Sarah dressing as Mrs. Mozart. Unfortunately, when Sarah opened the door for Johann on the night of their date, she had gotten the shock of her life! Dressed in a waist coat and tails of deep green, Johann had looked so much like Jareth that Sarah had nearly fainted! Though his eyes weren't mismatched or his hair quite as spiked, the resemblance was unmistakable and quite eerie. Though they had gone to the party, their relationship hadn't lasted. Sarah felt it just wasn't fair to Johann. From then on, she had pretty much given up on dating as a whole.

Back in his chambers, Jareth was preoccupied, mulling over Sarah and Brunella's words.

Though he wanted to deny it, both Sarah and Brunella had made valid points. But, Sarah's harsh criticism in particular had really hit a nerve with the Goblin King. Even Jareth had to admit to himself that he had might have been a tad overbearing, taking everyone and everything too much for granted lately.

Sighing in frustration, he flopped back into his bed. Though he had originally hated being in bed, he found he was beginning to enjoy the rest. It had literally been centuries since Jareth had taken a day off. In truth, Jareth really did care for the goblins, but ruling them was exhausting. Though not really evil, the goblins were not very bright and far too emotional to leave them unattended for very long. Without constant supervision, they could easily run amok and do untold damage.

Before his encounter with Sarah, Jareth had at least taken an occasional few hours to visit the world outside in owl form. The wild feeling of soaring above the world never failed to lift his spirits and was always a nice break. However, after Sarah, he simply couldn't muster much enthusiasm for it.

Since Brunella had departed, Jareth had wondered if she too, might not have been at least partially right. If Sarah had indeed been only fifteen at their last encounter, she had been far too young to appreciate Jareth"s offered. Almost without thought, Jareth summoned a globe and began to idly roll it in his hand as he pondered Brunella's words. Instantly, he paused, realizing what he had done. Pausing, he tossed it as the fireplace and the flames instantly extinguished. Smiling broadly, he summoned another and relit the flames. Instantly, his mood dramatically improved. Almost well and with his magic returned, Jareth grinned smugly. It was high time he decided that he turn his attention to Sarah.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jareth knew just where to begin. Immediately, he dispatched a goblin to summon Hoggle. Normally, Jareth would have simply transported himself directly to Hoggle, but Jareth wasn't quite ready for Sarah to know his magic had returned.

A short time later, Hoggle reluctantly entered the royal chambers.

"You sent for me, yer majesty?" Hoggle asked tentatively.

"Yes." Jareth replied. "I find myself in need of some information. I want you to tell me about Sarah; more specifically, what she has been doing since she came to the Goblin Kingdom last time."

Hoggle gulped nervously, not sure what the King wanted to hear.

"Umm, she went to school for a bit." he offered.

"School? What kind of school?" Jareth inquired.

"It's called a college, yer majesty. She studied writing, I think." Hoggle ventured, still very nervous.

"What does she write?" Jareth said, frowning in puzzlement.

"Books. Children's books." Hoggle stammered.

"About what?" Jareth responded.

"The Labyrinth." Hoggle replied, barely above a whisper.

That answer shocked Jareth. "The Labyrinth??!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, and the rest of the Goblin Kingdom too, of course." Hoggle rushed to answer.

"Am I in them? " Jareth pondered curiously.

"Umm, I don't know. I've never read them!" Hoggle lied badly.

As Jareth well knew, Hoggle was a terrible liar. That was how he knew Hoggle wasn't being truthful now. But instead of challenging Hoggle on his lie, Jareth let it go. He knew that if he wanted to learn anything about Sarah, Hoggle was the best place to start.

Jareth surprised Hoggle by what he did next.

"Thank you, Hoggle." Jareth stated. "You've been very helpful. You can go. Oh, and if you see Sarah, tell her I said Thank you for breakfast. It was delicious."

"I'll tell her if'n I see her." Hoggle replied bowing slightly before dashing out.

It was obvious he wanted to get out of the King's presence as quickly as possible.

Jareth summoned another globe and dropped onto his bed. Instantly, a stack of dozen or so books appeared. Each had one thing in common; on the front under the title, in big bold print they all said the same thing:_ by Sarah Williams._ Settling back, Jareth picked up the top one and began reading.

Sarah herself had been quite busy. She had spent most of the afternoon ducking Brunella's attempts to pin her down for another conversation on the Goblin King. Sarah had finally ended up out in the castle garden. Before long, Hoggle joined her.

" Hello, Hoggle." Sarah greeted her friend. "How are you doing today?"

For some reason, Hoggle hesitated before he replied.

"Okay, Sarah. But I'm worried a bit for you."

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"The King was asking me about you a little while ago. He wanted to know what you've been doing since you left last time." Hoggle informed her.

"Really? " responded Sarah, her eyebrows raising in surprise. Why would Jareth be so curious about her?

"He wanted me to thank you for breakfast, too. He said it was delicious." Hoggle informed Sarah.

Sarah blinked in confusion. Surely Jareth hadn't said that! Sarah dismissed Hoggle's words out of hand. Jareth would never be that nice. Obviously, Brunella had put Hoggle up to telling Sarah this in order to get her to like the Goblin King.

"It's okay." Sarah reassured Hoggle. "I know Brunella put you up to this, Hoggle."

"No, Sarah…" Hoggle started to protest, shaking his head.

Unfortunately, Brunella chose that moment to round the corner.

"Yoohoo, Missy Sarah." Brunella called loudly in their direction.

Hurriedly, Sarah made a break for it.

"Sorry, Hoggle! Got to go!" she said as she dashed off.

Sarah made it back to her room and slammed the door with a sigh of relief. Just to be safe, she threw the bolt on it as well. Frankly, she didn't feel up to another discussion with Brunella at the moment. The events of the past couple of days had left her emotions in a bit of turmoil. Being so close to Jareth was confusing Sarah more than ever. To deal with her inner chaos, Sarah turned to the one thing in her life that gave her the most comfort and pleasure: her work.

For the past few hours, a strange inner force had been striving for release in the form of an idea Sarah had for a new book. She soon sat down and began to work. For the rest of the day and far into the night, Sarah worked virtually nonstop on her latest creation. She didn't even pause for dinner or answer the knocks at her door that came that night. Usually, Sarah wrote her books over several weeks, writing at a leisurely pace. But this night, she was positively driven to finish. At last, several hours before dawn, she put the finishing touches on her current project. Exhausted, but immensely satisfied, Sarah laid down and instantly fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sarah woke up the next morning, feeling much better. Though her writing hadn't solved any of her problems, it had calmed her inner turmoil and improved her mood dramatically. Quickly, she got dressed and decided to head down to the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast. Unfortunately, she had barely left her room when a goblin appeared.

"Missy Sarah, The goblin King want to see you right away." he announced.

"What does he want?" Sarah asked.

"He no say." replied the goblin." He just say get you."

"All right." Sarah sighed heavily, dreading this encounter. "Lead the way."

The Goblin King himself had been quite busy, hard at work reading all of Sarah's books. Though initially he had been irked beyond measure at Sarah, he quickly found himself caught up in her writing. Sarah's colorful and entertaining stories completely captivated Jareth. Soon he was totally engrossed in tale after tale of the many citizens of his vast realm.

Sarah's writing style was very engaging. Though she obviously targeted her books for children, Jareth found them quite enjoyable. Strangely, Sarah had never written about her own adventure in the Goblin Kingdom. All the tales centered on her friends and their epic exploits. Sarah's affection for the many residents of Jareth's kingdom shone through in each line on every page with unmistakable clarity. The illustrations were also exceptionally well done. From the plume on the hat of Sir Didymus to the stripes on the rainbow worm, the artist had recreated each character in lovingly minute detail. Nowhere, however, did Jareth himself ever appear in any of her tales. Though the "Goblin King" was ominously referred to in several of them, never once did Sarah actually depict him or call him by name. Frankly, Jareth found it perplexing that Sarah had written so lovingly about a place that, by her own admission, she never wanted to come back to. It certainly had given him something to think about.

Sarah paused outside the doors of the royal chambers, hesitating. She wasn't looking forward to another confrontation with Jareth, but didn't see any way to avoid it. Taking a steadying breath, she entered. Jareth had awakened earlier and gotten dressed again the old fashioned way. Though he didn't relish it, he felt it was necessary if he wanted to maintain the illusion that his magic hadn't returned yet. In truth, he felt completely recovered. But there was still the little matter of Sarah to deal with.

Sometime during the night, Jareth had realized that maybe it was worth another attempt to get close to Sarah. After all, she was the only female to pique his interest in the last millennia. With his usual arrogance, Jareth had definitely decided that their last encounter had gone wrong because Sarah had simply been too young to appreciate what he had been offering her. He certainly found that explanation more far appealing to his ego than the idea that she had turned him down for lack of interest. He simply refused to acknowledge that any of it might have been his fault.

Jareth looked up in surprise as Sarah walked in. He hadn't expected to see her quite so soon.

"You wanted to see me, your majesty?" Sarah said, reverting to her previous formality.

This visit was going to be more difficult than Sarah thought. Jareth was sitting up in bed, wearing another pair of those silken pajamas, though these were blue. Though his hair still wasn't spikey as usual, it was pulled neatly back and fell over his shoulders. Sarah swallowed hard as her heart started to pound.

For a moment, Jareth paused before answering. He hadn't sent for Sarah, but he was glad to see her. It only took a second for Jareth to realize that this was probably Brunella's work and she was obviously up to something. Jareth decided to play along.

Unbeknownst to Sarah or Jareth, Brunella was hard at work right outside the royal chamber. Next to her, one of the largest goblins was following her direction, tying the huge double doors firmly shut with a massive rope.

"You sure this a good idea?" the large goblin asked tentatively.

"Quiet!" Brunella ordered in a hushed voice." You want them to hear you?"

He obeyed. Like most of the other goblins, the large one was afraid of Brunella in spite of her small stature. After all, even the King treated her with respect and all the goblins were afraid of him.

"If you don't want my Jarrykins to be the last goblin King, you do what me say!" she replied. Soon, the two left as quietly as possible.

Jareth couldn't help giving Sarah the once over, noticing that she looked particularly appealing that morning. Her chambray top and jeans clung lovingly to every curve. Yes, Sarah was definitely not fifteen anymore.

"Yes, Sarah." Jareth spoke at last, deciding to improvise. "I have something to say. I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days and it _may_ have made me a tad bit disagreeable. I just thought you should know."

Sarah froze in place for a moment, not sure her ears were working properly. If she didn't know better, she'd think that the Goblin King was actually trying to apologize.

"Excuse me?!!" Sarah replied, not sure she heard things right.

Jareth frowned. "You heard me." he replied, irritated at her attitude.

"Well, it sounds as if you are trying to apologize." Sarah stated.

"Yes." Jareth affirmed. "That's it exactly." he said, pleased she finally understood.

Silence loomed as Sarah stood there silently, appearing to be waiting.

"So?!! Do It!!" she said, getting impatient.

"Do what?" Jareth asked, appearing quite confused.

"Apologize!" Sarah snapped.

"I just did!" Jareth snapped back.

Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. Just when she thought there might be hope for him. "I have news for you, your majesty. A real apology involves saying you are sorry."

"I did! Besides, I am the King!" Jareth roared angrily. "What do you expect?!!"

Sarah stalked angrily over to the door and turned back to give Jareth a parting shot.

"Nothing! I should have known better! You'll never change!" she shouted back.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sarah tugged on the massive doors of the Royal chambers, intending to make a dramatic exit. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Frowning she pulled harder; they didn't budge.

Jareth watched with some amusement as Sarah's big exit was spoiled. Instantly, he knew this had to be Brunella's doing. Silently, he vowed to richly reward her.

Sarah struggled with the doors a few more moments before kicking one hard in frustration.

"OW!!" she cried grabbing her foot.

She quickly regretted her hasty action and couldn't help wincing as she put her foot back down.

"Let me out of here!" she demanded loudly of Jareth.

"Me? I didn't do anything!" he replied.

"Do you expect me to believe that?!!" Sarah shot back.

"Yes, I do. My magic hasn't worked in days." Jareth informed her smugly.

Sarah didn't look too happy with his answer, but he could tell she believed him.

"So what's wrong with these blasted doors?" she asked, a bit more quietly.

"They're stuck. It's an old castle, Sarah. They do that from time to time." Jareth said rather blandly. Frankly, he was beginning to enjoy himself immensely. It was high time he had the upper hand with Sarah.

"Well, why don't you fix them?" she whined.

"I did. They must be stuck again." Jareth replied, in a casual tone. This just kept getting better and better.

"Fix them again!" she demanded.

"I can't. No magic." he remarked, his face a mask of innocence. Having Sarah stuck in his chambers was beginning to get very interesting. "You might as well just relax, Sarah. Someone will come and discover us …eventually."

This time, it was Sarah's turn to growl angrily. Restlessly she began to pace as best as she could, limping on her sore foot. Finally, she moved to stare out the large window; anything to avoid looking directly at Jareth. Once more silence loomed.

But, the silence was soon broken by a vague rumbling sound.

"What was that noise?" Jareth inquired, looking around.

"What noise?" Sarah said, deliberately not turning around.

The rumbling came again.

"That noise." the Goblin King said emphatically.

"It's my stomach, okay." Sarah reluctantly admitted, still not looking at Jareth. "I haven't had breakfast." Or dinner the night before, she silently reminded herself. It was no wonder her stomach was making noise!

"Really?" asked Jareth nonchalantly as he gave a sly smile. Up under his covers, he summoned a globe and dropped it quietly over the side of his bed.

"Would you like some of mine?" he offered genially, bending over the opposite edge of his bed. He sat back up with a huge tray filled with luscious fruit and succulent looking bread and cheese.

Sarah turned around and looked at the appealing food, her stomach rumbling louder that ever. She bit her lip as her inner emotions and hunger warred with her common sense. Finally, hunger won out.

"Well…" she said hesitantly. "If you're sure."

Sarah limped cautiously over to the bed and looked about. In dismay, she noticed there was nowhere to sit and no chair.

The Goblin King placed the tray directly in front of him on the huge bed and deliberately slid over to make room. Slowly, Sarah perched on its very edge.

"Dig in, Sarah." Jareth said as he began to eat enthusiastically. He found the whole situation immensely entertaining and he had worked up quite an appetite.

Tentatively, Sarah began to eat. She was so hungry she didn't even notice or think it odd that the tray had two plates and two cups. She downed a good bit, but paused when she came to a particularly appealing peach. Instantly, she shot Jareth a hard glare.

"Something the matter, Sarah?" he asked mildly, knowing exactly what it was.

"I don't eat peaches!" Sarah informed him rather sourly.

To her great surprise, the Goblin King only laughed.

"Your loss." he remarked good humouredly, seizing the plump fruit and taking a huge bite. "I love them!"

For the next few minutes, they ate and drank in companionable silence. Sarah took advantage of the time to turn over these recent events in her mind. One minute, they'd been at each other's throats and now they were sharing breakfast, for heaven's sake! Jareth was even being nice to her! Just when she thought she had him figured out, he succeeded in confounding her by doing the unexpected.

Jareth was completely enjoying himself which was quite surprising. He had discovered he actually liked spending time with Sarah; something he hadn't expected. Suddenly, he found the idea of her leaving quite unpleasant.

Bolstered by the relatively nice way the Goblin King had been acting, Sarah ventured an inquiry that she had always wanted to ask.

"Umm, your Majesty? Can I ask you something?" Sarah asked Jareth almost timidly.

"Of course, Sarah. Feel free." Jareth replied genially, feeling quite generous.

"Why do you hate me so much?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jareth froze, stunned and shocked. He couldn't have been more surprised if Sarah had pole axed him with a halberd!

"HATE YOU??!" he bellowed. "Where did you get that ridiculous idea?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and folded her arms dramatically.

"Oh, come on!" she protested. "It's obvious!"

"It is not!" He countered irritably, not believing his ears.

Sarah unfolded her arms and began counting off her reasons on each finger.

"You took my baby brother." she started.

"You asked me to!" he bellowed back.

"I give you that." Sarah conceded, shrugging.

"You sent the Cleaners after me." she continued.

"You wanted a challenge!" Jareth defended, this time with less enthusiasm.

"You had Hoggle poison me." she enumerated on.

"I did not poison you! It was a mistake!" Jareth admitted reluctantly. In truth, it had been. Jareth had been trying to romance Sarah in her dream, albeit awkwardly.

"To top it off, you tried trick me into staying, demanding that I fear and obey you. Oh, and you've persecuted my friends ever since. If that doesn't show how much you hate me, I don't know what does." she finished.

Jareth's temper finally snapped. How dare she accuse him after all he'd done for her last time!

"Hate YOU?! You seemed to have forgotten that it was YOU who rejected ME; me, the Goblin King and Sovereign of the Labyrinth!! I didn't want to do any of that nonsense! Do you think I wanted to exhaust myself like that? What could I possibly hope to gain?!!" he exclaimed.

Not to be outdone, Sarah screeched right back.

"Of course I turned you down, you lunkhead." she yelled, borrowing Brunella's favorite insult. "I couldn't stay, no matter how much I wanted to! I was only fifteen and YOU would have turned Toby into a goblin!"

"I would not! You had already won! He was safe at home the moment you jumped! Oh, Forget it! I don't know why I even bothered! You were too foolish to even know what you wanted, then or now!" Jareth fired back.

"I was not!" Sarah shouted back, angry tears now streaming down." I knew exactly what I wanted! YOU! There, are you happy now?! I wanted you!"

For a moment, time paused, almost as if the Goblin King himself had stopped it as the angry revelations of the past few minutes sank in. Suddenly, it finally dawned on Jareth exactly what Sarah had said. With a wave of his hand, he sent the tray away and reached across the space between them to grab Sarah's hand, giving it a sharp tug. Sarah fell forward, right into Jareth who instantly seized her for a devouring kiss. With a quick twist, he had Sarah under him as he continued to kiss her breathless. After a moment, Sarah grabbed hold of Jareth, clinging to him for dear life and ardently returning his kiss. Jareth's growl of satisfaction was met by Sarah's sigh of pleasure as the kiss went on and on.

Outside the royal chambers a small crowd had gathered. At the sound of angry shouts, one of the goblins had gone to fetch Brunella. With growing alarm, she and the other goblins had listened as the shouting got worse. Then, suddenly, everything had gone deathly quiet. Alarmed, Brunella rushed to open the doors.

"Quick! Untie the doors! One of them could be in danger!" She cried.

"Which one?" a curious goblin asked.

"Who knows?!! But it too quiet and that can't be good!" she replied hastily.

Brunella and the crowd burst in to see the Goblin King and Sarah passionately kissing. The Goblin King raised his head at the abrupt noise and looked angrily in their direction.

"Brunella?!!" he said, his tone rising in anger at being disturbed.

"Oh, Boy!" Brunella sighed under her breath.

Sarah looked over to see Brunellaand the other goblins. Suddenly, she remembered where she was.

"Oh, dear!" she whispered as the realization of what she was doing hit her. She shook her head to clear the haze of passion from it. Quickly, she slid for Jareth's grasp and made for the door. Before Jareth could react, she bolted.

"Sarah!" Jareth called. But it was too late; Sarah was gone.

"Umm, I guess me screwed up, huh?" tentatively offered Brunella.

"You have no Idea!" spat out Jareth, glaring harshly at his old nanny.

Sarah wasn't sure where she was running to( or more accurately, limping to); she just ran. Soon, she found herself in the Goblin kitchen. It might not be the best place to hide, but at least it might be a while before anyone looked for her here. Sarah sat down at a table, still stunned by the events of the past few hours. What had she been thinking?!! She had been making out with the Goblin King! Who knows what might have happened if Brunella hadn't come in?! Morified, Sarah put her hands in her head and moaned woefully.

Things weren't going much better back in the royal chambers.

"Me really sorry, your majesty" Brunella offered.

"You should be!" Jareth retorted angrily.

"Did it help?" she asked. Jareth knew instantly what she meant.

"Yes and no." the Goblin King conceded.

"Huh?" Brunella said." Me confused."

"So am I, Brunella" Jareth sighed heavily. "So am I."

Back in the kitchen, things were still in a bit of chaos. Though the chef was cooking again, his assistants were still goofing off. Without the threat of the Goblin King popping in unannounced to keep them on their toes, they had all gotten very lax. Wood and straw for the ovens were stacked anywhere and everywhere. Worse yet, some of the piles had fallen apart and were just thrown around haphazardly. It was only a matter of time before disaster struck. One of the assistants accidently left a lit oven open and an ember had fallen on the floor. Within moments, the whole kitchen had begun to fill with thick black smoke. As usual, the goblins panicked. Most of the goblins jumped up and headed for the door. Unfortunately, one of the chef's assistants panicked and ran toward the fire, instantly becoming trapped.

Sarah quickly jumped up from her seat and immediately tried to help. After looking around, she soon heard the frightened cries of the trapped goblin. Carefully, she began to make her way in his direction.

It didn't take long for the smell of smoke and cries of panic to reach the royal chambers.

Frightened calls of "The Castle on fire!!" soon filled the halls.

Just as the Goblin King was leaving his chambers to investigate, the royal chef came running up.

"AHH! Help!! Help!! Kingy!!" cried the Royal chef. "Come quick! You got to save her."

"Save who?" the King replied irritably.

"Missy Sarah! The Kitchen on fire and she still in there!" came his frantic reply.

Sarah finally managed to get to the poor, terrified goblin through the thick smoke. Unfortunately, she quickly realized getting back was going to be much more difficult.

The flames seemed to be everywhere and the black smoke cut off her view. It was also getting hard to breathe. Picking, up the assistant, she soon began to try to feel her way out, coughing hard.

Jareth wasted no time taking charge. Instantly, he threw down a globe and was standing next to Sarah. Another globe quickly extinguished the flames and cleared the smoke. Jareth grabbed hold of Sarah and quickly began to check her over.

"Sarah!" he demanded harshly." Are you all right?"

Sooty and still coughing, Sarah managed to nod before her legs gave out.

In a split second, she was back in her chambers. Another globe summoned Brunella immediately.

"Stay with her, Brunella." the Goblin King ordered. Jareth was torn between staying to look after Sarah and doing what he knew was needed. By now, the panic had probably spread to the whole castle. If he didn't get things under control quickly, the goblins run amok, doing far more damage to the castle than any kitchen fire. Reluctantly, he left her.

Brunella brought Sarah a glass of water and it cleared her throat. Hoarsely, she turned to Brunella.

"The assistant cook? Is he okay" she wheezed.

"What, that lunkhead?" Brunella replied as she glared balefully at him." He okay. He just a little singed."

"Did you see it, Missy Sarah?" the assistant gushed. 'The Kingy save us! He throw a globe thingy and poof, no more fire!" Quickly, he dashed out the door.

"Oh." said Sarah as the full impact of what he said sank in. Jareth's magic had returned!

Sarah turned to Brunella.

"You can go now, Brunella. I'm fine." Sarah informed her.

" Me don't think so. Jarrykins told me to stay." she responded.

"Please, Brunella." Sarah pleaded. "I just want to get cleaned up and rest for a bit."

"Okay." she agreed reluctantly." But you call me if you need me."

"I will." Sarah answered, closing her door behind Brunella.

In truth, Sarah had only one idea. It was high time she left. Gathering her things, she spoke the words to end her second trip to the Goblin kingdom.

"I wish I was home."


	13. Chapter 13

Here ends my tale. I hoped you enjoyed it. Many thanks for all the kind reviews and favorites! It's always gratifying to have someone else enjoy my stories as much as I do! Thanks again!

Sincerely,

Your Humble Servant

Nefereu

Chapter 13

Brunella looked around at the utter chaos in the throne room and sighed wearily. The place was a thousand times worse than when Jareth had become ill, just like the rest of the castle. The goblins themselves were completely out of control. Some of them were even sitting on Jareth's throne, for heaven's sake! Frankly, she had given up trying to keep them in line. Even she could only do so much! After being told that Sarah had left, the Goblin King had seemed to snap. He had immediately locked himself in his royal chambers and hadn't come out in a week. Brunella only hoped that what she had brought could shake him out of it. It certainly couldn't make it any worse.

Carefully, she entered Jareth's chambers. The room was dark and Jareth was lying, listless in his bed. Though he was back to normal, he refused to get out of his pajamas, staying in bed all day, sulking.

"Jarrykins, me got something for you." she offered brightly.

"Go away! Whatever it is, I don't want it! And stop calling me Jarrykins!" he snarled.

She sighed again. "You need to get up, Jareth! The goblins going crazy!"

"Let them!" he snarled again.

"What wrong with you? You the King! Your kingdom need you!"

"Blast my kingdom!" Jareth barked. " I'm sick of being King! Let them find another one!"

"Okay; but me just thought you may be interested in Missy Sarah's new book." Brunella said, hoping to tempt him.

For a moment, Jareth quickly sat up, but then he flopped back down.

"I don't care!" he whined.

"You in it." she called softly, hoping to encourage him.

Sitting up once more, he glared menacingly at her.

"Give it to me." He ordered finally.

Gleefully, Brunella handed it to him and rushed to open the curtains to let in some light.

The King's Big Achoo proved to be as entertaining as all of Sarah's other books. In spite of himself, Jareth found himself smiling. In it, Sarah introduced the Goblin King: the mighty Jareth. Unfortunately, the King in the story had a big problem; he had caught a case of the dreaded disease sniffysnufflitis. Jareth laughed as the King in the story sneezed so hard that he blew all the goblins around like a hurricane. As before, Sarah didn't appear. The heroes of this book were her friends, Hoggle, Ludo and Didymus. The three were called on by the cranky king to seek out the fabled Elixir of Chicken, the only known cure for sniffysnufflitis. Brunella appeared as the king's nurse who called him Jarrykins and kept handing him tissues. In the book, it was she who bonked the royal chef and got the goblins back to work. After many adventures, the trio retrieved the elixir, saved the day and were rewarded by the no longer cranky king. Jareth looked at the King in the story. It was unmistakably a portrayal of him and a rather flattering one at that. Jareth was still smiling when he closed the book.

"It good, right?" Brunella announced.

"Yes, it is." Jareth agreed. "But my nose was not that red." he added, feeling the need to find something to complain about.

Brunella snorted in laughter as she secretly grinned. She had him now.

Sighing dramatically, she feigned a bland attitude.

"I just hope she be okay to do another." she stated being deliberately mysterious.

"Why wouldn't she?" Jareth inquired curiously, perking up.

"Oh, it not important." Brunella stalled.

"Brunella!" Jareth warned, rapidly losing patience.

Taking the hint, Brunella told him her news.

"Hoggle say that Toby tell him Missy Sarah really sick. He think she caught your cold."

"Why did Hoggle have to hear it from Toby? Why didn't Sarah tell Hoggle herself?" Jareth said, asking the obvious question.

"Oh, she not talking to anyone; not Hoggle, not her family. She no want to see them either. She sick all by herself." finished Brunella.

The idea of Sarah sick and unattended didn't sit well with Jareth. He knew from experience what a miserable feeling that was. In spite of his anger at her abrupt departure, he felt the need to check on her. He owed her that much.

Standing up, he threw down a globe and instantly, he was the ominous, imposing Goblin King spiked hair and all. Throwing another globe, he vanished.

Brunella shook her head. She was getting far too old for all this conniving.

Sarah lay in her bed, stuffed up, wheezing and feeling miserable. Frankly, it was no more than she deserved. She was an idiot and a fool and she deserved to suffer. Sobbing, she laid her head back on the pillow.

Only a few hours after returning from the Goblin castle, Sarah knew she had made a terrible mistake by leaving. Frankly, the reason was very simple. She had panicked. The revelations that morning coupled with Jareth's wonderfully powerful kiss had left Sarah reeling. Then, before she could sort herself out, she had discovered Jareth's magic was back. That had pushed her over the edge. When Jareth had been ill, it had been easy to deal with him. But the idea of Jareth at full power and full potency had scared Sarah witless. Like the coward she was, she had bolted for home.

Not knowing what else to do, she had thrown herself into her work. She simply couldn't summon the nerve or courage to go back. So, she'd worked herself into exhaustion for hours on end, getting her book published in record time. The publisher had been thrilled with the unscheduled book and got it out immediately. Unluckily, Sarah's mild smoke inhalation had rapidly evolved into a nasty case of bronchitis. To make matters worse, it turned out when she kicked Jareth's door she had broken three toes! Her whole foot was now taped up. Sarah looked at her sketchpad wistfully, only to put it down again. Almost instantly, tears began to fall. Sobbing into her pillow, Sarah cried herself to sleep.

Jareth entered Sarah bedroom and immediately noticed she was asleep. He almost turned around and left, but a faint wheeze caught his keen hearing and he paused. Looking closer, he soon noticed the dark smudges under Sarah's eyes. She truly was sick. A quick touch of her forehead revealed she was quite warm; too warm in fact.

At Jareth's touch, Sarah shivered and tried to snuggle down more, still deeply asleep. Jareth's magical eyesight saw the sketch pad lying next to her even in the darkened room and he picked it up. To his great surprise, he immediately recognized the face. It was him! Quickly, he turned the pages. On each one, his own face greeted him. In a variety of poses and places, Sarah had drawn Jareth in loving detail. But it was the last few drawings that struck Jareth the most. In all of them, he and Sarah were kissing.

Suddenly, Jareth smiled his usual smugly arrogant Goblin king smile. He summoned a globe and tossed it down.

Sarah woke up and immediately realized she wasn't in her own room. Mystified, she looked up and was taken aback to see the Goblin King sitting next to her on his throne. Strangely, it was in his bedroom and so was she. In fact, she was in his bed!

"Good morning, Sarah." Jareth said brightly." I hope you rested well."

"What is this?" she croaked hoarsely.

"The beginning of your treatment, Sarah." he replied, using her own words back at her. "I believe the first thing on the agenda is a bath. Brunella, if you please."

"You got it, Jarrykins… I mean your majesty." she corrected, much to Jareth's amusement.

Sarah started to protest, but Jareth cut her off.

" Hush!" he ordered in mock ferocity.

"Come along, Missy Sarah." Brunella advised. "This for your own good.

However, instead of being stripped and scrubbed, Sarah was treated to a long leisurely soak in a steamy tub full of pungent herbs. By the time she got out, she was feeling much better. Instead of a nightgown, Brunella offered Sarah an oversized black silk pajama top that looked suspiciously familiar. Within a short time, she was back in bed, tucked under the covers. Sarah started to speak, but again Jareth cut her off.

"Time for your medicine!" he ordered, offering Sarah a cup.

She hesitated for a moment, but then drank it down. Almost instantly, she began to feel vastly improved. Even her toes stopped hurting!

"That stuff is great!" Sarah remarked, marveling at its effects." Where was it when you were sick?"

Jareth gave Sarah a scowl that indicated his feelings on that particular question. "Don't ask."

He had already given the castle healer a severe tongue lashing for cowardly neglecting him while he had been ill. He had threatened to bury her UNDER the Bog of Eternal Stench if she couldn't concoct something to make Sarah better instantly! Luckily, she had succeeded.

As Jareth continued giving orders to various goblins, Sarah suddenly remembered the past two weeks and immediately began to tear up. Alarmed, the Goblin King rushed to her side.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she sobbed. "I am more of a chicken than all the goblins put together! You kissed me and it was so wonderful and then I panicked…Umph!"

Jareth cut off Sarah's babbling with a firm but gentle kiss.

"Hush!" he ordered again, this time in a voice full of tenderness. Resting his forehead lightly against hers, he whispered. "It doesn't matter. No more recriminations, my love! The past is over and done."

"Careful." she sniffed." You might catch my cold."

"I'll send Hoggle for some Elixir of Chicken if I do." He joked lightly, handing her a tissue.

Sarah mouth dropped open in shock. He'd read her book?!!

Straightening, he quickly resumed his Goblin King persona. "Now." he pronounced loudly. "Where is that blasted chef?"

Jareth resumed ordering the Goblins around, but Sarah didn't miss the rather tender look he aimed in her direction. The fact that he had read her book had her senses reeling; when he addressed her as his "love", it had sent her heart into overdrive. With thundering clarity, Sarah had a realization that struck her like a lightening bolt. This was how Jareth showed his affection! By taking care of the people he cared about! Frankly, it was something she had begun to suspect after the fire. Jareth hadn't rested until he had made sure everyone, she and the goblins, were safe and had been looked after. While he might be arrogant and a bit overbearing at times, he genuinely cared for his goblins. He just didn't tell them.

As he was giving orders, Jareth began to hum a hauntingly familiar tune that Sarah quickly recognized. It was the song he had sung to her in the ballroom! In that moment, Sarah knew that Jareth cared deeply for her as well. Though he might not write her sonnets, or declare his love on bended knee, he would show her his affection in other ways, if she paid attention. Suddenly, she couldn't stop herself from blurting out.

"I love you, Jareth!"

"Really?" Jareth replied casually." Glad to hear it. We'll discuss that... later." he emphasized. He might have appeared casual to anyone else, but Sarah didn't miss the way his eyes lit up and almost seemed to glitter at her profession of love.

"You know what would really make me feel better, Jareth," Sarah continued getting into the spirit of things. "A little music. Sing to me, again? Please?"

Jareth's face lit with obvious pleasure and this time his eyes did glitter.

"Absolutely, dear Sarah!" He promised. "Right after breakfast!"

The chef soon bustled in with a tray for Sarah and Jareth sat back down, watching her eat in obvious pleasure. "You needn't worry about anything. I have it all arranged." he went on as she continued eating. "There's a suite just down the hall with lots of light for your work and Hoggle can take care of getting you things…"

That made Sarah pause, spoon in midair.

"Get my things? What for?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"You moving to the castle, of course." Jareth announced in a tone that normally brooked no argument.

"I never agreed to that!" she snapped, her temper rising.

"I didn't ask your opinion!" Jareth replied irritably, his own temper rising.

"Now! Just a minute…" Sarah began angrily, shoving aside her food as Jareth stood and headed over to her.

Wisely, Brunella hustled all the other goblins out the minute the shouting started and departed with them, shutting the door firmly behind her as she left. She'd learned her lesson last time. She wasn't opening the doors again no matter what she heard!

With a sigh of relief, Brunella headed back to her old chamber here in the castle. She had moved back in only a few days ago. It was what she had wanted most for all these years since her retirement. Ths castle was her home and always would be. Things between the King and Missy Sarah had turned out better that she could have possibly hoped for. Of course, heaven only knew what they would say if they found out that it was she who had given the Goblin King his cold in the first place! She might only be his nanny, but she hadn't spent centuries raising the Goblin King without learning a little magic. She had gotten the idea one day after talking to Hoggle. He had told Brunella about Sarah's wish. As she had hoped, Sarah had returned to the Goblin kingdom and things had progressed from there. Brunella had hated to do it, but Jareth wasn't getting any younger and she wanted grandchildren. Little did she know just how well she would succeed!

Five years later...

Brunella dashed in to where Queen Sarah was sitting.

"Did you tell him?' Brunella asked eagerly.

"Yes, I did." Sarah pronounced slowly.

"Well? What he say?" Brunella demanded impatiently.

"Not much." Sarah sighed heavily. He just kissed me and then dashed off to make a royal announcement about the news.

"That's it?!!" Brunella snapped.

"Weelll, not exactly." Sarah stalled. "You see, Brunella, Jareth was so excited about the news that he didn't really wait until I finished."

Brunella's eyes widened as the impact of what Sarah said sank in.

"You mean he doesn't know you going to have triplets??!!" she replied in shock.

"Or that my old doctor says that the sonogram shows they're all girls." Sarah sighed heavily. After hearing the news from he castle healer, Sarah had wanted a second opinion.

"Aren't you going to tell him?" Brunella inquired.

"Not right now, Brunella." Queen Sarah replied, smiling to herself. "All in good time. After all, I have to have a little fun." she observed, giving her a conspiratorial wink.

Brunella laughed. Three daughters! Poor Jarrykins didn't know what he was in for!


End file.
